Roberto Aguayo maintaining confidence despite release by Tampa Bay

Roberto Aguayo is keeping his head up after his release by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The second-year kicker, who landed with the Chicago Bears, sounded confident in his first comments since the release, backing himself to still become a successful kicker.

“I know the type of man I am,” Aguayo said, via Larry Mayer of the Bears’ official website. “I know the integrity and what I have inside me. That doesn’t define me as a man. I’m defined by how I keep my head up and keep pushing. That’s in the past now. Yeah, at the time it hurt. But there’s new opportunities and I’m here now, so this is my next opportunity and I’m looking forward to making the most of it.”

Aguayo didn’t deny that the pressure of being a second-round pick may have impacted him in Tampa Bay, but refused to use it as an excuse for his struggles.

“I’m not going to focus on that anymore,” Aguayo said. “There was a standard that was set with that. But at the end of the day, I know what I’m capable of and the standard that is held in the NFL. I’m just going to go out here and do what I’ve got to do here.”

Aguayo was a great college kicker, but making him the 59th overall pick turned out to be a mess for both sides, with Aguayo proving ineffective as a kicker and the Bucs’ braintrust having to admit a major draft mistake. Perhaps a fresh start will be good for him.